A few weeks ago, State Member for Cessnock Clayton Barr stood alongside Cessnock Police, Mayor Daniel Watton, and Councilor Quintin King for a photo-op, all smiles as they discussed police staffing and crime numbers in the region. You might have thought, “Hey, maybe Clayton Barr actually cares about crime in his electorate.” And now, he’s set up a community meeting in Greta, where residents can voice their concerns directly to the police.
Sounds great, right? Wrong. Because when it came time to actually do something about crime—when he had a chance to support real action in Parliament—Clayton Barr did what Labor does best: watered it down, blamed the opposition, and patted himself on the back.
Last week, the Member for Dubbo, Dugald Saunders, introduced a motion in Parliament calling for tougher action on crime in regional NSW. And let’s be clear—crime isn’t just rising, it’s spiraling out of control in regional areas like Cessnock, Muswellbrook, and Singleton.
The Motion That Barr Should Have Supported
Saunders’ motion was simple and to the point:
- Acknowledge that crime in regional NSW is skyrocketing.
- Recognize that police do a great job but need more legislative support to deal with youth crime.
- Call on the Government to increase police numbers across the regions.
- Urge the Government to get serious about repeat youth offenders.
Any politician who actually cares about regional crime should have jumped at the chance to support this. But not Clayton Barr.
Barr’s Pathetic Watered-Down Amendment
Instead of backing tougher laws, Clayton gutted the motion and replaced it with meaningless political spin:
- He removed the acknowledgement that crime is skyrocketing. (Because admitting Labor is failing? Never!)
- He claimed police already have enough legislative support. (Ask any officer in Cessnock if they agree.)
- He praised the Minns Labor Government for “prioritizing police recruitment” after 12 years of Liberal-National neglect. (Classic Labor—blame everyone but themselves.)
- He called for more “preventative programs” to fix youth crime. (Translation: Throw money at “woke” social programs instead of locking up criminals.)
Cessnock Deserves Better
Clayton Barr is all talk, no action. He’ll stand for photo ops and hold public meetings to make it look like he cares, but when it comes time to vote for real action, he sides with his Labor mates every time.
Crime is out of control in Cessnock and across regional NSW. The only way to fix it is with more police, tougher sentencing, and laws that actually punish repeat offenders. Anything less is just empty words and political spin.
And that’s exactly what Clayton Barr delivered.
